Traction chair therapy for back pain ยท St. Louis
The traction chair stretches the spine slowly enough that guarding muscles stop fighting it.
The traction chair at painstl.com is a reclining chair that runs a programmed, gentle stretch along your spine while you sit back. It eases pressure on the spine and gives splinting muscles permission to loosen.
Nothing here happens without a physician’s order, and the order sets the strength. It runs only while a physician is on site and immediately available.
What happens in a session?
A recliner with a preset program that stretches and releases your spine in slow cycles while you relax.
Why would your physician order it?
Repeated gentle stretching opens space around the joints and discs and gives a muscle that has been splinting for weeks permission to let go. It works best when an epidural or a nerve block has already quieted the pain enough for the muscles to relax.
What will you feel?
Slow cycles of pull and release run along the back. It starts at the lowest level and rises one step at a time, never above what your physician ordered. A technician checks in two minutes after it starts and again at the midpoint.
When is it ruled out?
- A fracture not yet cleared by your physician
- Thin bones (osteoporosis)
- Rheumatoid arthritis affecting the neck
- Worsening numbness or weakness
- Being pregnant
- Spine surgery in recent months
Spoken safety questions open every visit. Any change since last time goes to the physician, who rules on it before the machine runs. Ask to stop whenever you want.
How much time to plan for
Plan on about 15 minutes each time.
What to remember
- It starts low and rises one step at a time.
- Gentle stretch only. Pain means stop.
- New numbness or tingling gets reported immediately.
Last step. Show us you have it: Explain to your technician what you will say the moment the stretch turns painful. Unsure about any step? We run through it with you again next time.
Related reading
- The painstl.com physiotherapy program, every station and test
- Herniated disc
- Epidural steroid injection
- Heat and cold therapy, another station
- Vibration therapy, another station
- Neck decompression, another station
- Laser therapy, another station
- Shockwave therapy, another station
- TENS (gentle electrical stimulation), another station
Ask whether this belongs in your plan
A physician reviews your history and your procedures first, then writes the orders. Nothing is added without a reason in your chart.
4479 Woodson Rd, Suite 401
St. Louis, MO 63134
Next to St. Louis Lambert International Airport, off I-70 at Woodson Road.